


The Unexpected Gift

by wolfsheepsoup



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Petstuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-04
Updated: 2013-09-19
Packaged: 2017-12-13 22:03:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 19,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/829385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfsheepsoup/pseuds/wolfsheepsoup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A petstuck AU that got out of hand.</p><p>I am most likely not going to update this...sorry guys</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. cages and stinky fish

**Author's Note:**

> This story is loosely based off of the wonderful petstuck AU "unwanted free ugly troll." But I mostly follow my own plot lines.
> 
> this work is now illustrated by the lovely casual-dork-patrol on tumblr.

There had been a crate waiting for you, the second you walked into the lobby of the shitty apparent building you lived in. The night-watch lady had been sitting behind the little desk in front, strange magazine closed as she looked up at you.

 

“Mister Egbert, you have a well, crate waiting for you.” She smiled brightly at you, dark red lipstick showing just how full her lips really were.

 

You had never really had a real conversation with Miss. Megido since the first day you had moved in three years ago. She gently handed you the crate, her smile growing.

 

“ I think I heard grumbling coming from inside a little earlier. I slid some of the tuna I had for lunch inside, but I don’t think that will tide him over for long.” she paused for a moment.

 

“Or her! Or her” she added her smile slipping a little.

 

You thank her for taking care of your, what ever it was before you head upstairs via the elevator. Six floors and one tangled key ring later, you were staring down a now growling crate. You slide down off the couch and crawl on your hands and knees over to it. You slowly squeeze open the door and look inside. Sitting scrunched up in the back of the crate was a little, grumpy looking troll.

 

You had never seen a troll in real life before, like, ever. He looks at you with yellow and grey eyes, black lips pulled back in a half snarl, half freighted scream. You jump back. You were not, NOT, expecting a troll! Never in a million years! He growls again, but this time you can tell its not coming from his mouth but, from his stomach.

 

“You hungry little guy?” you ask. _Do trolls talk? What do they even eat? Hell, you need to google some shit like now._ He nods and slowly, slowly, steps out of the crate. You walk into your little tiny half kitchen and open the fridge and nearly side step the three half swords, five unchained mace balls and one spring loaded fist.

 

You whirl around to see that thankfully your little “gift” wasn’t hurt. He had climbed up on to the table and curled into a tight little ball; round knobby horns pointed at you.

 

“Oh shit!” you rush over to him, picking him up and cuddle him tightly to your chest. “I am so, sooo, sorry….little guy!” _You really need to find out what his name is._ You mentally add as you feel his little body relax slowly into your arms.

 

“Hell was that?” you look down shock etched in to your face.

 

“Was that you?” You ask the little furry ball in your arms. He nods into your chest, tensing all up over again. You bounce him a little shushing him softly.

 

“It’s ok, it’s ok! You can talk if you want to!” You relax again as you feel him loosen up.

 

“So, what do you want to eat, uh, you got a name little one?” You ask him as you head back over to the fridge.

 

“Karkat.” He says. As you look around in the fridge for some tuna. Your efforts aren’t fruitful and you move to look under the sink where your roommate keeps the canned food. You set Karkat down on the floor and tell him to go look around the apartment while you hunt down a GOD DAMN FUCKING CAN OF TUNA.

 

You find one can in the back of the cabinet that thankfully wasn’t spoiled; now, to find the can opener. You ram the back of your head in to the underside of the sink when you hear the front door open and a loud crash from your room at the same time.

 

“JOHN?” your roommate yells from the living room dropping his stuff loudly on the floor.

 

“IN THE KITCHEN!” You yell right back at him while standing up and rubbing your head. He stomps into the kitchen and you can just smell the dirt and muck on his shoes, and oh, you HATE IT when he does that! You whirl around and all most slam the can down on the counter. He leans in all smug smiles and dark shades but you know his game.

You lean side ways as his lips ghost over your lips and land a kiss on your cheek.

 

“What’s with the fish can and dog crate babe?” He asks, sliding the can out of your hand. Your eyes widen as you remember the loud crash that happened earlier.

 

“Karkat!” You gasp as you untangle yourself from Dave and rush into your bedroom. You let out a sigh as you see that he wasn’t hurt. He was curled up in the middle of the bed in a little ball, horns tucked in tightly. You look to see what broke when you here Dave stroll in to the room behind you.

 

“Who’s Karkat?” He asks as you pick up the broken picture frame that the little troll had knocked over. You hand the picture frame to Dave as you slide gently onto the bed with Karkat slowly sliding himself in to your arms.

 

“It’s ok Karkat! It’s ok,” You cuddle him close to your chest, smiling when he started to purr. that’s a thing you didn’t know. “Dave, this is Karkat, and he’s a…troll…and he’s going to be staying.”

 

You look up at Dave and as usual you can’t really read his face. He looks at you then at Karkat, then back at you before groaning and fainting.

 

“Is he ok?” Karkat asks looking up from your chest.

 

“Yeah, he’ll be ok.” You smile as you look at Dave and GOD DAMN IT HIS SHOES! You stomp over to him and violently yank off his muddy, dirty, disgusting shoes. And oh god it’s all over the floor and your going to have to steam it all out and…and… Your chest tightens as you start to panic. You feel a small hand on your leg rubbing in small circles. You look down to see Karkat looking up at you, eyes wide in fear.

 

“You ok?” he asks. You take a deep breath and smile shakily.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m ok.” You look down at him and oh, god is that smell him? You look over at Dave’s shoes and sniff them lightly. Oh god, yup that smells all him. “You, you are getting cleaned up as soon as I put these away.” You say.

 

His face darkens and he starts to protest as you walk down back into the front room and deposit Dave’s horrible shoes bottoms up on the hard wood floor by the door. You pick Karkat up and hold him at arms length. You give his head a small whiff and eeaahhhh, that smell is not human in the least. He draws his feet up close to his body and whips his tail back and forth angrily. Now that your holding him a little farther from your face you can get a better look at him.

 

His hair’s a big black poof on his head, strands sticking out every which way and almost completely covering his horns. His horns you can’t help but smile at them; they’re so cute and small and rounded. You really want to touch one but you remember reading somewhere that troll horns are like nipples so, you don’t. He makes this quite clicking noise in the back of his throat and looks up at you with big scared eyes. You can tell he’s shaking. So ignoring that hideous smell, (that has gotten even worse some how) you hug him close and walk off into the bathroom.

 

Getting him into the tub is a fight all its own, but you do. He’s looking up at you now with surprise in his eyes like he’s never had a bath before in his life. (You’re pretty sure he hasn’t.) You turn the water on slowly evening the temperature out to a nice heat. He sticks his hand under the spray and is mesmerized by it. As he plays with the water you wonder how old he is. He’s no bigger than a five year old but you have a feeling he’s younger than that.

 

“We need to take him to a vet.” you hear Dave say from the doorway.

 

You turn around so see Dave standing, well, more like leaning in the doorway on the wood frame, one hand tangled in his hair, holding his head.

 

“How you feeling?” you ask him turning back to Karkat.

 

“Better.” You hear as you gently start to scrub your little trolls back.

 

“Could you look up some stuff on trolls please?” You ask. You feel Dave pat your back and you take that as a yes as he shuffles away. You scrub and clean and scrub and clean until that smell is gone. Karkat looks up at you sleepily, yawning wide, showing off all his little teeth. You pick up your sopping wet troll in a warm fuzzy red towel and he falls a sleep on your shoulder, tail swaying as you walk.

 

You walk back into the living room and spot Dave on the couch laptop in hand surfing for information. You sit down next to him and smile. He looks over at you and tries to hide the quirk of his lips as he looks at Karkat but you see it. And your smile grows. “I couldn’t find much about rasing but I did find a good doctor close by.” He says, eyes flicking back to the screen. “And you won’t guess who it is.”


	2. Little trolls and doctors

You yawn loudly as you wake up. You had fallen asleep last night on the couch, holding onto Karkat. You look over to see that he's not on the couch with you, neither is Dave. You’re up immediately, heading into the bedroom. You quickly open the door and smile with what you see. Dave’s curled up on the bed, Karkat on his chest, both of them fast asleep. You slowly slip out of the room and head into the bathroom. After waking up a bit more you stroll in to the kitchen and start making coffee. As you reach over and open up the fridge you see that Dave’s taped a note onto the milk. “meat(rare, like uncooked), cheese, bead (but only in small pieces) fruit, veggies and some kind of weird troll food” it read. You figure that it’s a quick list that he wrote last night about stuff trolls can eat.

“Speak of the devil.” You say as you hear his dragging foot steps. You hand him a cup and smile. “Got your note, zombie-man.” You say and just like himself, he groans at you and stagers over to the toaster. “Karkat still asleep?” You ask him as you crack a few eggs into a pan. Dave nodded as he nibbled on some bread. Your finished making breakfast by the time Karkat comes walking in, rubbing at his eyes. You watch as Dave pick up your still sleepy troll and holds him to his chest with one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

You slide over to the table; plates in one hand and a pan of eggs in the other. You set the plates down and spoon out eggs to yourself and Dave. You turn back and open up that can of tuna you got out last night and put it on a plate for Karkat. You watch as he eats with his hands. Bed head even worse than yours in the morning.

“So did you call the vet’s office last night?” You ask, looking over at Dave who was shoveling food into his mouth like it was the only thing he was going to eat that day. He nods and swallows, putting a hand up as he does. “Three o’clock.” He breaths and then goes back to eating.

“You still haven’t told me who the doctor is, Dave.” You mumble under your breath as you finish eating.

You look back over at Karkat. He’s wiggling in his seat and the shirt you gave him is way to big, it’s slipping off one shoulder.

“….John….” He whispers. Dave must have told him your names last night.

“Yeah Kar?” You say, shorting his name.

“I…….um…have to….” he looks down at his feet, face tingeing red, still wiggling.

“ I think he has to piss.” Dave says as he get up to toss his plate in the sink and get ready for work.

“Oh, Oh!” you get up quickly and escort your wiggly, twitchy, troll to the bathroom.

You set him down on the toilet and turn around as he goes. You hear him flush and then he’s climbing up your back, wrapping his plump little arms around your neck. You steal a quick peek at the clock on the wall and see that it was almost two and you still had a lot to do! You take your little tagalong in to the bedroom to find him some thing that actually fit. All of the shirts you still had from when you were little were to small around his tummy and Dave never kept anything. You dig around a little bit more to find a slightly dirty, black sweater in the back.

You sigh and slip it on over him and surprisingly it kind of fits! It looks really good on him, it’s just a little too big length wise, dropping right under his knees. You scoop him up and tickle the under side of his feet smiling at the little red paw pads on the underside. He giggles softly and smiles. It’s the first smile you’ve seen him crack, and it makes your chest hurt at just how cute it is. You check the time again and see that it’s 2:30. You quickly scribble down the way to get there, grab your keys, tuck him close to you, and rush out the door.

You stand outside the office not sure if you should go in or not. Karkat’s curled up on your chest; all 18 claws digging in to you. You take a deep breath and walk inside. The sound of barking dogs and squawking birds fills your ears and it’s all you can do not to slap your hands over them. Karkat starts clicking in the back of his throat again, and huge wave of that same pungent smell waves up at you. Ok, ok you can do this!

You walk up to the nice looking lady at the check in desk. Her long dark brown hair was pulled back in a messy bun and her bright pink glasses slipped down her nose as she typed furiously at her computer.

“Ahhh, um.” you squeak out fixing Karkat’s place on your chest. She looks up at you with soft hazel eyes and a bright, but tired smile on her face.  
“Oh! Hellooooo there!” Her voice is so sweet and bubbly you think you just got a cavity.

“I’m, uh, the 3 a clock.” You say adjusting Karkat even more.

“All right! Dr. E will see you shortly! In the mean time I need you to fill out these!” She then hands you a clipboard with a stack of files and a smile. You go to sit down next to a young lady holding a carrier on her lap.

She looks up at you with bright violet eyes and short cut blond hair. You feel like you know her from some ware but you can’t quite place her.

“Is this little one yours?” She asks, gently petting in-between Karkat’s horns.

“Yeah,” You say looking down at him.

“Does he have a name?” She inquires.

“Karkat,” You say, looking at her carrier.

“You’re probably wondering what’s in my carrier, aren’t you?” She says, smiling. You nod slowly.

“Well, I like you, have a love for quirky little animals, and I have myself a sweet little troll.” You look a little closer and yes! You can see a small little gray ball curled up in the middle of its carrier.

You watch as a little head pokes up a little, showing off short curly black hair and mismatched horns, one hooked, and the other slightly angled. “Yes, she’s my little sweet. Although, my other pet, a cat, does not like her as much.” You look up to see a quick look of worry run over her face.

“I’m sorry, but I feel like I know you from somewhere. What’s your name?” You ask, turning to look at her.

“Lalonde, Rose Lalonde.” She says, shaking your hand.

“Wait, Lalonde? As in the great Miss Lalonde that crashed the Strider party of ‘07?” You ask sitting up a bit.

“Oh, ah no. No, that was my sister, Roxy. Wait, you know the Striders?” She asks, her light eyebrows raising a bit.

“Why yes, I do! In fact, I’m Dave Strider’s roommate, John!” You pump her hand quickly and happily.

“My, my, John! How you’ve grown!” She says.

“Mr. Egbert? Dr. E will see to you now.” Came a deep rumbling voice. You look up to see a huge man in dark blue scrubs (with horses on them) holding a clipboard and looking right at you. You walk up to him slowly, your eyes wide. He looks you over and grunts rudely, but you see him soften when he looks down at Karkat. He leads you back into a little room with a few chairs and a paper coved examining table.


	3. doctors and colors

“Please sit your troll down on the table.” He says while he writes something down. You unhook Karkat’s claws from your shirt and sit him down, staying right by his side. He hooks his hands into the side of your shirt, clicking and smelling. The giant of a man (He had to be at least six feet tall!) turns back to you and you can tell he can smell Karkat. 

“I’m sorry, he does that when he’s scared.” You say petting his back lightly. 

“It’s alright, all trolls secrete like that when they’re frightened or in danger.” He says, setting down his clipboard and walking over to you. He gently unhooks Karkat’s claws from your shirt and pulls off the shirt you have him in. You fidget as he does this. 

“I don’t like to do this, either, but it’s the only way I can check him.” There’s a sigh in his voice as he says this, like he really doesn’t like doing this. Karkat just sits on the paper staring up at you and Mister, Mister….(You steal a look at his name tag.) Mr. Zahhak, dumbfounded. 

“What’s your name little one?” his voice is so soft when he talks to Karkat, like thunder in the distance. 

“Kar-kat” Karkat pauses in the middle staring up at him. 

“Good. Good, do you know what your color is?” He asks, smiling softly. Karkat shakes his head. “Alright, can you show me your feet?” He asks holding out his hand, palm up. Karkat slowly sticks out his foot, paw pads up. You watch as Dr. Z’s brow knits and his striking blue eyes narrow as he looks at Karkat’s pads. 

“Is something wrong?” You ask. 

“No, no.” He says, standing up. “Dr. E will be with you shortly.” He picks up his clipboard, says goodbye to Karkat with a soft pat on the head, and to you with a firm handshake. Then he’s out the door, brown pony tail and all. 

You sit down next to Karkat on the table, petting him as you wait. A few minutes later the door opens up again and your shocked as a familiar voice rolls over your ears. 

“Well, Mr. Egbert, you sure have changed. Tell me, how’s your son doing?” 

“Dr. Jake?” You spin to see; yes it is! It’s your old doctor back from when you were a kid. Same old hair cut, same lightly tanned skin and overly hairy arms. Same old sparkling green eyes that seem to just be brimming with life. He laughs, a sound you never thought about but realized you missed. 

You’re up and laughing with him, tight bear hugs all around. 

“How is your father, by the way?” He asks stepping back. 

“Oh, he’s quite all right! Still living up in Washington, the stubborn old goat.” You say smiling. “Still sends me cake on my birthday.” You laugh out. 

“Alright! Well, the next time you talk to him tell him I said hello.” Jake says as he looks over your shoulder at Karkat. “So is this the little one I’ve heard so much about?” He strolls over to Karkat and sits down on that fun chair that only doctors can sit in. “So, what’s your name little guy?” 

“Kar-kat” He pauses in the middle again. You watch as he reaches out and pulls off Jake’s glasses. Jake smiles and looks back at you. 

“I remember when you would do that. Now, you have your own.” He says at you. You laugh again and slide over to free his glasses from Karkat’s grip. 

He does all the stuff you remember him doing with you. Pulse, throat, eyes, nose, ears and so on. Karkat sits and fidgets like you always did. Only protesting when Jake went to check his pointed little ears with a tool you’ve never seen before. 

“How come all the stuff your using is different than the stuff you used to use on me?” You ask. 

“Trolls are a lot different than you and me and other animals.” He says. “Like, they have one color for every fluid in their body.” You sit down and listen as he tells you a bunch of stuff you never knew about trolls. “And on the topic of blood color, you, my dear friend, have a hemoanomalous.”

“A wah?” You ask. 

“Well, in uglier terms, you have a mutant blood.” He says looking down at Karkat and tickling his still bare tummy. You smile as he giggles and pushes Jakes hand away. “He has bright red blood just like ours, that’s not normal in trolls and it makes him very rare.” 

“Rare how?” You ask as you pick Karkat up out of his arms and put his shirt back on. 

“Well, that depends just on the person that owns him.” Jake walks you out into the lobby and tells you how some people see rare trolls as beautiful and others see them as, “Well, freaks.” Jake finishes, shaking your hand. “Miss Peixes, could you see that Mr. Egbert here gets all the things we offer to new troll owners?” Jake turns you by the shoulder and you watch as the lady in the pink glasses walks up to you. 

“Alright Doctor!” she says happily strolling up to you. “Don’t worry! There’s not really a h-ole lot!” She smiles up at you.


	4. Books and tears

She lied. 

You lug home three books (big ones), nine pamphlets, several toys, and five papers all listing troll sitters, troll food stores, troll friendly places, and what to do if your troll gets sick. When Dave comes home, you’re passed out on the couch, books and pamphlets open and thrown everywhere. Karkat’s on the floor doodling on a blank piece of paper and eating Cheerios. 

You wake up an hour later to the most horrible screaming you have ever heard. You jump up off the couch and run to the source. You see Dave standing in the bathroom holding a strange troll and Karkat is no where to be seen. “DAVE! Where’s Karkat? And who is that?” Dave looks over at you panicked.   
“I don’t know who he is and Karkat’s in the bedroom!” He yells. 

“Why is he screaming?” You yell back at him. 

“I don’t know!” Dave has the strange troll held to his chest and is gently patting his back bouncing him slightly, and calming him like you would a baby. Said troll is screaming up a storm and is clutching his head tightly, a yellow fluid running from his eyes, and strange blue and red sparks running and jumping all over his body. 

“I have an idea!” You scream at him before running into the living room. You pick up one of the books and flip through it. “Headaches, headaches,” You mumble to yourself as you look. “Oh, um AHAH!” You find what your looking for and run back to Dave. “Here! Listen!” You start to read off what it says.

“…All though all trolls can suffer from headaches yellow bloods suffer from them the most. If your yellow blood starts to spark, scream, and clutch their heads, they are suffering from an extreme form of the ailment. Lay them down on a soft blanket or set them down in their piles. Gently rub at the base of the horns for these are what carry the most nerve receptors on the head. Gently rub until sparking and screaming stops. If your yellow blood does not stop sparking even after screaming has stopped and horns have returned to normal temperature, feed them one teaspoon of honey every half hour until sparking stops and/or they fall asleep…” 

Dave hands you the screaming troll as he grabs his bathrobe and then wraps the little one in it. He moves into the living room and cuddles him to his chest gently rubbing at the base of the larger set of horns on the trolls head. Slowly, the yellow blood stops crying and screaming and settles in to a quiet whimper. Dave sighs and looks up at you, eyes tiered. You smile softly and slip back into the bedroom to check on Karkat. 

He’s curled up on the bed in a pile of blankets, some how sound asleep. You smile and give him a quick kiss on the cheek before heading back out to check on Dave and your mystery guest. 

“How’s he doing?” You ask as you sit down, taking the now sleeping troll in your arms. 

“A lot better.” Dave sighs and gets up. 

“Where are you going?” You ask. 

“I’m, going to bed.” He says and walks away. You shake your head and gently hold onto the little troll in your arms. 

He’s a little taller than Karkat and all bones. You gently wipe away the tear streaks on his face. He has two sets of horns, one pair smaller than the other. You watch as he sighs in his sleep and you feel his tail curl up next to him. You take a peek at it to see that he has two tail tips; each tufted with a different color. One black, the other white. One boney hand slides out of Dave’s bathrobe to clutch at your chest, gently squeezing your shirt. 

You end up sleeping on the couch again that night. 

In the morning you wake up to the smell of coffee and the sound of coughing. You blink and rub your eyes and see that the new troll is doubled over on the floor coughing and dry heaving. You pick him up carefully and move him into the bathroom, where he proceeds to empty the contents of his stomach on the floor. You pat his back and keep yourself from thinking about it. He starts to shake and tear up, soft choked sobs breaking your heart. 

“No, no! Shhhh, shhh, it’s ok, it’s ok, I got you.” you pick up his skinny little naked body and hold him close to you. He stops shaking slowly and he seems to drink in your body heat and that’s when you realize how cold he is. 

“Dave!” You yell as you wrap the yellow blood in a blanket. “Get Karkat and the car keys! We need to take the other one to the Doctor’s NOW!” You shout as you put on your coat. The drive to the vet’s is torturously slow for you and the troll in your arms. He falls into a broken sleep punched by dry heaves, fits of sparking, and painful sounding coughing. 

You rush into the office. Miss Peixes is walking over to her desk when you rush up to her. 

“Please I need to see Jak- Dr. English right now!” Your voice is filled with fear. She looks down at the troll in your arms who is now sparking badly, some of the energy arcing and stinging you. She gets on the intercom and belts out in a voice with so much authority you all most cringe. 

“Zahhak! We need a stretcher out here stat! Code T yellow!” She then takes him from your arms and rushes back past the double swinging doors.

You and Dave sit silently, Karkat in your arms. Two hours latter, Jake comes out of the back his scrubs stained different shades of yellow. He looks at you with a tired smile. 

“He’s going to be ok.” He says. 

“Can we come back to see him?” Dave asks sitting up a bit. Jake shakes his head. 

“Not right now, I’m afraid; he’s resting. That little one’s been through a lot.” He sits down in-between you and Dave and you can see just how tired he really is. He tells you that the yellow blood was suffering from poisoning, dehydration, and malnourishment. He also had two fractured tail vertebra, a fractured ankle, and Psionic spiking. (you have no idea what that means.) He tells you that he’s probably been living on the streets for at least a few months. “His last owner probably just got too sick to take care of him. Or….” He doesn’t finish. He tells you to go home and read up on yellow bloods and Psionics, (He hands you another book, ugh.) and to ask him about his life before he met you. 

“But, only when you can tell he’s ready.” Jake says that you can come back to pick him up once the poison has worked it’s way out of him, which, will be in three days. 

 

You don’t sleep that night.

Neither does Dave.


	5. yellow bloods and the past

The next morning you and Dave set to “Psionic” proofing your apartment, which included sealing all unused light sockets, dusting every inch of the apartment, stocking up on honey (the all natural kind.) tightening all light bulbs, screws, nuts, bolts, all things metal. And buying rose scented bubble bath. You also ask Karkat how he would feel if another troll came to say with them. “it, ok. Trolls fine.” he says in his weird broken way.    
  
The next day Dave goes to the clinic to pick up your yellow blood. He’s ungodly skittish as he brings him inside and sits him down on the couch. Karkat jumps up on to the couch next to him, gently touching him with is tail tip. The yellow blood shakes as Karkat checks him out. He starts to click and you catch a small whiff of the same smell Karkat has when he’s scared. Karkat flicks his tail and wiggles his ears like he’s talking to him with out words. Slowly you see his ears move up and down and his tail tips flutter.   
  
“Karkat.” Karkat says his own name and points to himself. You watch as the other troll points to himself and says “Thollux.” he has a thick lisp and you smile as you watch Karkat cross his eyes trying to say it. “S-oll-uck-s” He sounds out. Sollux smiles brightly and his ears wiggle.   
  
Karkat curls up next to him and quickly falls asleep. You have a gut feeling you’re going to be keeping him.  
  
The next couple of days are slow recuperation for Sollux. Every day he gets a little better. His headaches slowly start to even out until he only has one every few weeks. You still have to give him rose baths two days, every two weeks. They help even out his mood swings that you have found to be very dangerous to you and him when left unchecked. He and Karkat hit it off like no one else, and they quickly become inseparable. He even starts talking to you and Dave. One day he walks up to you and asks,   
  
“Can we get thome bookth?” You spin around and pick him up.   
  
“Why do you want books?” you ask. He curls up in a tight ball in your arms and whispers,   
  
“I…like…to read.” Like it’s wrong of him. But, you just smile and set him down at the table.   
  
“Alright! Why don’t you write down what kind of books you want?” He smiled brightly and set to work scribbling down what he wants. The next day you head out to the nearest book store to find what he wrote down.   
  
It’s not easy. All he seems to want are books on bees and snakes. You manage to find a few kids books on the topics he wants.   
  
When you come home you’re horrified to find Dave, Karkat, and Sollux covered in cuts and bandages. All three of them look up at you smiling like angels. “What happened?”    
  
“Well, uh.” Dave starts,   
  
“Were great beathts!” Sollux chimes in as he tackles Karkat to the floor. Karkat roars at him and they proceed to roll and tumble all over the floor biting and scratching at each other, laughing like mad men.    
  
“Dave.” You look at him with a quirked eyebrow. “Uh…….” He makes a mad dash into the spare room and hides.   
  
The spare room’s mostly empty except for a few odds and ends. It’s mostly where you keep all the extra pillows and blankets as well as childhood memories. That’s where Dave found one of his old shirts.(Apparently he does keep some things.) You ended up giving it to Sollux.   
  
One day you decide to sit Sollux down and ask him about his old owner.   
  
You sit him down at the table a cross from you. “Hey Sollux,” you start softly.   
  
“I don’t remember much.” He mumbles to the table. You’re surprised that he already knows what you were going to ask him.   
  
“Well, what can you remember?” You ask. “You don’t have to tell me everything.” You add. He looks up at you with his big, mismatched eyes, one solid blue the other solid red. Sometimes you wonder how he sees with them.  
  
He gets up and walks over to you. He then demands that you pick him up which, you do. “He took care of me. Sinth I was little.” He starts. “We had lots of fun.” a sad smile crosses his face. “He always let me read, and write. And never got mad when I uthed my powerth.” He pauses. “But then, one day he got really sick. He tharted to forget.” A small sniffle from him. “One day, he got tho sick he hurt me, and I couldn’t thay there anymore.”   
  
I lived with his matesprit for a little while.” You look down at him confused, but don’t stop him. “She wath nice, but I had a feeling she didn’t like me.” He curls even closer to you. “Tho, I ran away. And, I kept running. Until I found Dave, and you and KK.” He smiles up at you. “Now, I’m thafe. And I don’t have to run.”   
  
You hug him tightly smiling in to his back.   
  
“Is it ok if I tell the nice man you met a while ago what you told me?” You ask him. He looks away from you and gently rubs the place in his mouth where his front teeth use to be. (They fell out yesterday, they had been lose anyway.) he then slowly nods.   
  
“Can I go back and play now?” He asks. You smile and say yes. He walks away, going to find Karkat.   
  
You have a call to make.


	6. icey cold and food stores

Jake thanks you for the information and tells you some things just can’t be helped.   
After you call Jake, you decide to look up just what a “Matesprit” is.    
  
Juggling two trolls was a little more than what you thought you could handle but you managed it, happily, you add. That is, until your little group of two became three.  
  
It was a Saturday night when Jake called you with some horrible news. “We have a new troll with us and well, we need some one to help take care of him.” He had begged you. You sigh as you steal Dave’s car keys and sneak out of the house. It’s late at night when you pull up in front of the clinic. Dr. Z’s standing out front still in his scrubs with a troll held in his arms. He thanks you as you take the other troll in your arms.   
  
He’s sleeping soundly, eyes shut, and snoring softly.  You have to move him around a little to avoid stabbing yourself with one of his large horns. Zahhak tells you that he was just about to close up when he found him inside a cardboard box that had been left out front. He had been freezing in the cold and his back legs had been tied together. He smiles sadly as he pets him on the head. “We couldn’t save the left one. It was too mangled.” You readjust him and you notice the sewn up nub of what was left of his leg. “We saved as much as we could.” He says, reaching into his pocket. “He also had this.” He hands you a light blue dog collar. “It has his name on it.” you look over the tag and read it out loud, “Tavros.” You feel his tail brush over your arm as you say his name. “When he wakes up, he might be a little freaked out.” He tells you. “Introduce him slowly to the others. He’s very skittish around new things. If he gets scared let him hide, then take him a little bit of chocolate. Brown bloods love sweet things.” He adds ruffling the tuft of hair on his head.   
  
You take him home and lay him down in the extra room. You build up a pile of stuffed toys and blankets around him. And you end up falling asleep with him that night.   
  
The next morning you wake up to see him curled up in the corner, yellow and grey eyes wide with fear. You slowly get up onto your hands and knees and crawl over to him. “Shh, shh, it’s ok. It’s ok.” You calm him. He rushes into your arms and claws at your back, light brown tears in his eyes. You rock back and forth, calming him down. Soon he stops crying and pulls back to look at you.   
  
“where, I?” He asks. You smile and tell him,   
  
“You’re safe now. No one will hurt you.” You take a better look at him and see that his large horns have been filed down, the tips rounded and soft. He has a tag in his ear. Looking at it closely, you see that it looks like a tag that a cow would have. You darken slightly as you think about who would do something like that.   
  
“Prrt?” he looks up at you questioningly, two little rounded teeth poking out over his bottom lip.   
  
You stand up, holding him with one hand, and open the door. Dave’s standing in front of you holding Sollux.   
  
“Uh, John?” Dave looks from you to Tavros.   
  
“Uh, Jake’s idea.” You say as Tavros giggles ands waves. Sollux waves back wiggling his ears. You set Tavros down on the floor and watch. He tries to stand but quickly falls back down onto his hands. He looks at the ground, frustrated.   
  
“You keep an eye on him, ok Dave?” You stress that he keeps an eye on him. Dave sets Sollux down and stands at attention, saluting you like a soldier.   
  
“Ah, ha ha.” you laugh at him mockingly.   
  
You watch as Sollux helps lead Tavros down the hallway, both of them on all fours.     
“I’m going to find him something to wear. Ok?” You say, turning your back to him.   
  
“Alright.” Dave says. Then you feel his hands on your butt, squeezing it lightly. “You still got a cake butt.” He whispers in your ear before walking away. You wheel around and blow a raspberry at his back.   
  
He flicks you off.   
  
You really need to buy new clothes for them.   
  
You mange to find one of your older shirts for him to wear at the moment, but you’re going to have to go shopping for them.   
  
“Dave, I’m going out!” You call.   
  
“For what?” He yells from the bedroom.   
  
“I’m going out to check out some of the stores Jake gave us to look at!” You yell back. “I’m taking the car!” As soon as you say you’re going out, Karkat’s on your leg pleading to go out with you.   
  
“Please! Jhon! I want to go!” He climbs up your leg to park himself on your back.   
  
“Alright, alright!” You laugh. “I’m going to take Karkat! Get him out of your hair for a little while.” Dave leans out of the bedroom and nods. He has Sollux in one arm and Tavros over his shoulder.  
  
You walk down the hallway with Karkat on your shoulders, giggling happily about going outside. But, as soon as you’re downstairs and in the main lobby, he’s all nerves, clutching you tightly and sinking down to hide on your back. You wave to the day guard Miss Snow. She looks up at you with cold dark brown eyes, not a single black hair out of place. You slowly lower your hand to make it look like you were just going to scratch your head.

Man is she distant.   
  
After that disaster of a meeting, you’re back in your happy mood. You belt Karkat into the backseat. You made Dave go ask his bro if he still had his baby seat. Long story short, he did.   
  
The first store on the list Jake gave you was to a troll based food store. It’s really close to your apartment so you decide to take a look at it. But, once you pull up and park you get a sick feeling in your stomach and you realize that, you’ve never really thought to much about trolls themselves. Ever since you were a little kid you’ve always been told that trolls are pets and nothing else, but now, you’re starting to rethink that. You’re just about to start a feelings jam with yourself about this when Karkat becomes impatient.   
  
“Jhon, Jhon! I what to go iside!” He starts to bounce around. So you get up out of the car and get him out.  
  
  
You set him on your shoulders as you walk inside. Thankfully they, aren’t selling trolls. It’s all just strange food you’ve never seen in your life. You stand there, mouth agape, just looking at everything.   
  
While your zoning out in la-la land, a worker at the store comes over and starts to play with Karkat. 


	7. potheads and jade bloods

“Ha ha ha, who’s this colorful motherfu- whoa, can’t cuss on the job.” Comes a almost stoner like voice from your left. You turn to meet said voice.   
  
He’s standing almost right next to you and you have to back up a bit to keep from smelling is breath. His long dirty blond dreads are held back in a lose pony tail and smashed under a floppy rasta hat. He looks up at you with big sleepily grey eyes and an even sleepier smile.   
  
“Hey, yeah!” he greets you with a handshake and you notice all the different bracelets on his wrists .   
  
“Uh, hey.” You look at him awkwardly.   
  
“My name’s Gamzee and I’m here to help ya’ll.” He brushes off his work apron and a distinct smell of pot wafts up to you.   
  
“Well, uh, I’m a little new to all this and I’m a, uh, little over my head,” You smile sheepishly.   
  
“That’s all good, my man. I’ve handled a few newbies in my time working here.”   
  
You notice he’s wearing purple skinny jeans and matching converse.   
  
“So tell me, my new bro, how many of these cute mother-lovers do you have?” He asks, wiggling his fingers at Karkat.   
  
“Well, this is Karkat, he’s mine, uh…my roommate has yellow blood, and were uh, troll sitting? Yeah, troll sitting a little brown blood. So, three?” you say your voice squeaking a little.  
  
Gamzee’s zerberting Karkat’s feet.   
  
“Three little ones, hun? You, my bro, have a handful.” He says standing up and towering over you.   
“But I can help.”   
The next two to three hours are spent with Gamzee dragging you around the store picking out things that Karkat, Sollux and Tavros would like. (And that are within your price range.) At the end of it all your head is spinning.   
  
While Gamzee’s ringing up what you’re buying he starts to ask you about Tavros.   
  
“So, uh, who’s the brown bloods owner?” He starts.   
  
“Uh, well to be honest, I don’t really know. You see,” You then proceed to tell Gamzee almost everything you know about Tavros.   
  
“Man, I’d really love to adopt a cute mother-lover like him.” Gamzee gets this dreamy look on his face. “I’ve always wanted to have a troll. I think they’re just the coolest little people.” Gamzee’s words relax and frighten you at the same time. ‘People? Does he really think of them as people?’ You ask yourself the same question, looking over at Karkat who’s on the ground holding your hand.   
  
“Whoa, sorry for getting’ my zone on yah, bro.” Gamzee finishes ringing you up and you pay him the right amount. You’re about to leave when you decide on something.   
  
“Hey, uh Gamzee?” You start.   
  
“Yeah?” He looks up at you and you feel yourself relax.   
  
“Here.” You then proceed to write down the location of the clinic Jake works at and your phone number.   
  
“If you still want to adopt Tavros.” You say before taking your leave.  
  
You hope you’ve done the right thing.   
  
Thankfully, trolls don’t have refrigerated food so you can still go shopping for clothes. The next store ‘Hemo-Fabric’s’ is thankfully, a clothing store and it’s also not to far away from ‘Whole Troll’ which was the food store.  
  
You drive over to it, park, and walk inside, Karkat clinging to your leg. The store is filled with clothes and all sorts of different outfits! The faint smell of rose petal incense fills your nose. As soon as you’re in the door though, Karkat’s off and running.   
  
“Karkat!” You hiss, chasing after him.   
  
He’s laughing and giggling as he runs until he rams full speed into a little troll girl. They go tumbling, sliding along the polished wood floor until crashing to a stop in front of a display and being covered in stuffed animals.  
You rush over to them and quickly dig them out. Karkat looks up at you from in-between a stuffed lobster and a cow, eyes big and round.  You look over at the little troll girl just as soon as she hits him.    
  
  
It’s just a light bop on the head in-between the horns flat handed to your relief. She then crosses her arms and turns her back to Karkat. Karkat rubs his head and scowls at her, looking grumpier than ever.    
  
“Ow.” he says quietly.   
  
She turns to look at him and you look at her. Soft curly hair and mismatched horns, one hooked at the tip. She’s wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and a bright red skirt with a light violet bow tied in the back, right over her tail. The tuft of hair on the tip of her tail was groomed perfectly and a beautiful shade of green.  
 “Well, You Should Watch Where Your Going.” She huffs, but you see her eyes soften.   
  
“Excuse me, but, are you Miss Lalonde’s troll?” You ask her. She turns and looks you up and down.   
  
“Why, Yes, I Am In The Company Of Miss Rose.” She curtseys to you as Karkat climbs back into your arms.    
  
“I knew you were. I could tell. You are very articulated.” You smile as you watch her little cheeks take on a jade-like color.   
  
“Miss Rose Teaches Me Well.” She smiles brightly.   
  
“Can you tell me your name?” You ask her. She swishes in her skirt and says   
  
“It’s More Customary For The Gentlemen To Speak His Title First!” she giggles out.   
  
“Well then! I am John! Master of the four winds!” You tell her.   
  
“And this is Karkat, my trusty knight, protector of blood lines and right hand to the throne.”  You kneel before her.   
  
“And pray tell, what is this young ladies title?” You say.   
  
“I Am Kanaya, Reader Of The Night And All That Dwell Within The Moons Maiden Glow.” She says, dancing and waving her hands.   
  
“I ask you, dear reader of the stars, is your lady about? My kingdom asks to see her so that we may barter for your silks and cloths.”   
  
Your really having fun with this! Kanaya smiles a bright big smile, her fangs popping out over her dark black lips.   
  
“My Lady Of The Light Stands In The Back, Keeping Eye On The Rarest Of Our Pillage. I Shall Fetch Her.” And with that Kanaya’s off with a another curtsey.   
  
You watch as she bounds into the back of the store to find Rose.   
  
She’s quick to scamper back with Rose in tow.


	8. sleep and phones

“I Have Returned, Oh Grate Bender Of The Wind.” Kanaya says pulling Rose by the hand. “I Bring My Lady, The Mistresses Of The Light, Fair Rose.” She smiles even wider.  
  
“Thank you, my lady.” You kneel again and kiss the back of Kanaya’s hand. She blushes bright jade and giggles before pulling away. “Can my lady show thy knight the lay of the land?” You ask her. She giggles even more and nods. You pat Karkat on the back and send him off to look around. “If my lady finds something for him, go ahead and bring it back.” You hear her squeal and watch as she takes off with Karkat.  
  
“Oh, what have I done?” You say, laughing.  
“You have doomed us all, great bender of the wind.” Rose says patting you on the shoulder.  
  
“Oh, uh, I was just playing with her.” You blush lightly.  
  
“You have a way with trolls, John.” Rose smiles and watches as Kanaya pulls Karkat over to the other side of the store.   
  
“So, what brings you here John?” She asks turning to look at you while crossing her arms slightly.  
  
“I need to actually buy clothes for my trolls.” You say. “Not just have them wear my old hand me downs.” You rub the back of your head sheepishly.  
  
Rose quirks an eyebrow and says “Trolls? Have you perchance had your little family grow a bit?”  Her violet eyes widen a small fraction.  
  
You proceed to tell her everything.  
  
By the end, her eyes have widened largely, and her face is unreadable. You feel like you did something wrong as you stand there under her intimidating stare. She’s shorter than you by a few inches yet, right now you feel as tall as a mouse under her gaze.  
  
But then, she cracks a smile. Her eyes soften, and she starts to laugh.  
  
It takes a while for her to calm down again and by the time she dose she has tears in her eyes. She’s still giggling when she tries to talk.  
  
“Oh John, I had a feeling you wouldn’t stop at one.” Almost at once she’s dead serious again. “Just don’t bite off more than you can handle, okay?”  
  
You nod like a scolded child, eyes on the floor, hands behind your back. ‘She would make a great mother.’ You think.  
  
“Alright, that’s enough dilly-dallying.” She says brushing her hands off. “Let’s find your boys something to wear.” She continues with a smile.  
  
The next two hours are spent walking around and around Rose’s store telling her everything your “boys” like. By the time you’re done, your arms and legs are tired from walking and holding all the clothes she’s piled on you.   
  
You can only afford to buy half the things Rose picked out for your boys so, she helps you pick and choose.  
  
A little while later Kanaya comes walking back, almost dragging Karkat behind her and holding something in her other hand.  
  
“So, what did you find?” Rose says kneeling down to Kanaya. She giggles and hands it to her.  
  
“Oh, my.” Rose raises a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter.  
  
“What? What is it?” You lean over Rose’s shoulder and you almost break out into laughter as well.  
It’s a crab raincoat.  
  
It’s bright red and has ungodly cute little back eyes on wiggly stocks sticking up off of the hood. The arms end in a split and are designed to look like claws, and the buttons going up it are sea shells.  
  
You have to buy it.  
  
Not just because it’s so ungodly cute but because if you didn’t you have a feeling you would upset Kanaya greatly.  
  
You purchase your things and scoop up Karkat. Your almost out the door when-  
  
“ROSEY!” The front door of Rose’s shop burst open and in walks her sister Roxy accompanied by a strange girl you’ve never seen before.  
  
Roxy is just like how you remember her. Blond hair wild and out of control, eyes bright pink and filled with life. Her olive skin and black painted lips off set the bright colors of her outfit. Puffy purple coat and bright pink scarf with ripped orange tights and untied work boots. You stand back as she walks over to Rose and hugs her tight.  
  
You smile and wave at the strange girl who came in with her.  
  
She has soft looking medium length white hair and bright red eyes hidden behind round rim glasses. She’s wearing a lime green cardigan over a dark blue shirt and a knee length red plaid skirt. One of her black stockings is riding low and her moccasins look old and worn. She’s also nervously chewing on her nails.  
  
She’s finally looks up at you and gives a small wave and a shy smile. Karkat waves at her and she giggles and waves at him too.   
  
You slip out the door with a look of apology at Rose.  
You get home and are bombarded by Sollux and Tavros clinging to your legs. They’re both covered in Magic-Marker and food stains.  
  
Dave’s passed out on the couch.  
  
You mange to walk into the bedroom and put down all the clothes you bought. You then move into the kitchen and set down all the stuff you got at the food store. You peel Sollux and Tavros off your legs and walk them into the bathroom with Karkat at your heels. You then, bathe all three of them.  
  
The warm water works wonders on them. Soon they’re too tired to stand. You dry them off, get them all into their new pajamas, and bring them into the spare room which you find to your surprise, Dave has made into a room for them. He even painted the walls.  
  
You set them down in the pile That Dave made in the middle of the room. You take one last look around the room and spot Dave’s drawing on the back wall. It really looks like childish scribbles, but you can tell what it is.  
It’s you.  
  
Well, not just you. It’s all of your family. You, Dave, Karkat, Sollux, and Tavros. All together. You smile and walk back out and sit down on the couch next to Dave. You gently prod him awake.  
  
“Uzah wha?” He sits up and quickly leans heavily on you. His glasses had fallen off in his sleep so he’s looking up at you with his eyes, unhidden. You smile softly into those cherry red pools.  
  
“I saw what you drew in the spare room.” You say. Dave off and running with a huge round about spurt of gibberish trying to deny it. You silence him with a kiss.  
  
“Come on babe, I’ve been forgetting you for too long.”  
  
You then take Dave back to the bedroom and thank him the right way.  
  
You wake up the next morning more relaxed than you’ve been for the past couple of weeks. Dave’s curled up next to you, one arm thrown over your chest and his face is squished up into your side. A soft smile is on his lips.  
  
You slowly unwind Dave from your body and get up to stretch.  
  
“Mmmh,” You feel Dave reach out and takes hold of your wrist. You smile and lean over to give him a kiss.  
  
“I have to get up now, Dave.” You smile as he looks up at you with red puppy dog eyes.  
It takes all your will power to put on your underwear and check on the trolls.  
  
They’re all still asleep, or at least you think they are. Karkat and Sollux are curled up together while Tavros was off by himself holding tightly on to the stuffed cow with fairy wings you got him at Rose’s store. You also got Karkat a little crab, and Sollux an overstuffed bee. 

   
The phone rings.


	9. going away

You pick it up, trying to hide the sound of just how tired you are. It’s Gamzee on the other side. He starts talking to you about how he went to the clinic and talked to Jake about Tavros. He asks if he can come over later that day to “Meet that sweet little bro, and kick the wicked jams.”  
  
You tell him three in the afternoon.   
  
It feels like two minutes go by, and then, it’s three.

  
Dave left for work about an hour ago. So it’s just you and the trolls when he shows up. You open the door and…  
  
Oh…  
Oh god!  
His dreads hang free, framing his face. Sleepy grey eyes look down at you from a mask of grey and white face paint. Over sized band t-shirt and baggy jeans with holes in the knees hallmarked with flip-flops.   
  
He’s a fucking fashion disaster.   
  
You slide away from the door and let him in. The smell of axe waves up to you as he walks by.  
  
“Hey, there motherfucker, what’s all up and happening?” he pulls you into a tight bear hug before walking over and flopping down on to your couch.   
  
Dear god you hope your doing the right thing.   
  
You chat for a little while until Karkat pads out from the bedroom just woken up from a nap. He’s grumbling and has dark bags under his eyes. He climes up into your lap and tries to fall asleep again.   
  
“Aww, man, has he not been sleeping?” Gamzee asks, gently petting Karkat’s unkempt hair.   
  
“Yeah. I don’t know what’s keeping him up. It all started a few nights ago. We only got him to sleep all through the night last night but, he woke up early today.” You tell him as Sollux and Tavros come crashing out from around the corner.  
  
Both of them look up at Gamzee with large eyes. Sollux starts to spark slightly, like he’s unsure, while Tavros crawls over to him and climbs up onto his lap.   
  
You look at them and you see something in Gamzee change. His eyes soften as he holds Tavros close to him. You feel almost as if Tavros is calming him but, the dudes as chill as you’ve ever seen.   
  
You know you’ve done the right thing.   
  
He plays with Tavros and Karkat and slowly, slowly, Sollux starts to play with him too. His personalty is addictive, and it’s weird.   
  
He leaves a few hours later almost as soon as Dave gets home. You tell Dave about him and how he’s going to adopt Tavros latter this week.   
  
Dave’s not to happy about this turn of events, but he knows it’s better for Tavros to have someone who can look after him and not have to worry about other trolls.   
  
Now it’s up to you to tell them what’s going on.  
  
Sollux protests. Telling you that “…that guy thmelled funny.” and how he didn’t trust him. But you calm his nerves and tell him that “…..you’re going to be able to see Tavros, it’s not like he’s going to be gone forever!”                                        
                       
After a few more hours of settling them Tavros says it’s ok.   
  
“Uh, honestly, I don’t think that um, Karkat cares for me that much and I uh, think it better if I were to, to live somewhere else.” He explains to you.   
  
You pet him on the head and tell him that that’s the bravest thing someone can do, leave their family to help someone else.   
  
“I just have a feeling that Gamzee needs someone like you in his life.” you tell Tavros before scooting all three of them off to bed.   
  
“Look Dave, I know you don’t like this, but it’s better for him.” You start.  
  
The next half hour is spent arguing about it, but in the end you come out on top and convince Dave that it’s a good thing for Tavros.  
  
He still makes you sleep on the couch though.     
  



	10. from 3 to 2 and bad again

The next couple of days are spent on getting Tavros ready to move. (And comforting Dave about it.) Finally, the end of the week rolls around and you’re ready to take Tavros to his new home. You call Gamzee and get directions to his place. And then you’re out the door.  
  
Gamzee lives closer to you than you thought.   
  
You can spot his place almost instantly. it’s the only one on the block that’s painted purple.   
  
You knock on the door and wait. You hear a crash followed by a string of cusswords to which you cover Tavros’ ears. A few more crashes and the sound of something heavy slamming into the floor before the door opens.   
  
He’s wearing the same thing he was wearing last time you saw him.   
  
“Yo! ‘Sup my bros?” Gamzee invites you inside.   
  
You’re not quite sure what to make of his house. The inside is covered in glow in the dark paint and black lights with a smattering of real lights here and there. You step on something and the most horrifying noise jars your spine. You look down to see one of those clown horns that they sell in Halloween stores. Gamzee laughs and picks it up and gently gives it a squeeze at Tavros.   
  
“HoNk.”   
  
Tavros giggles and reaches out taking hold of it.   
  
“Honk.” he says quietly. Gamzee smiles and ruffles Tavros’ hair.   
  
Gamzee leads you into the kitchen where he offers you something to drink. You begrudgingly take an Orange Faygo that’s thrust into your hand. You and him talk about a few random things before you move on to the topic of Tavros living here.   
  
“Do you have any pets?” You ask him.  
  
“No.”  
  
“Do you have anyone that lives with you?” You ask, “that could be a danger to him?” You tack on.  
  
“N…well,” he rubs the back of his head slightly and doesn’t look at you.   
  
“You have to tell me.” You sip carefully at your soda. It’s not that bad.   
  
“Well, every once in a while, my boyfriend will stay the night. He’s a bit of a lose cannon, but he never hurts anyone.” Gamzee brushes the table with his hand.   
  
“Anyone else that comes here, though, that could?” You take another sip.  
  
“Nah, man the only other one who comes through is my older brother, and that man’s a sweet heart. Wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Gamzee smiles, you notice that it’s crooked.   
  
You two shake hands before you leave. Tavros waves from Gamzee’s arms as you climb back into your car and drive home.    
  
Yeah, you did the right thing.   
  
A few months pass with out much happening. Gamzee and Dave slowly start a friendship mostly based off Tavros and their love for bad music.   
You learn about Troll relationships after Sollux and Karkat become “Morailth” and after Sollux starts calling you and Dave “Matesprith.”   
  
But then, Jake Calls you late at night needing you to take care of another troll.   
  
  
You take the job. You’re starting to like taking trolls in and finding them good homes.


	11. Underwater problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this chapter before i made it all the way though U.F.U.T, all of the good doctors past history is completely made up for my own plot.

The next day, there’s a knock at your door. You open it up expecting to see Jake or Mr. Z (his first name’s Equius. You managed to find that out from Gamzee, his boyfriend.) but no, standing outside your apartment is a short, slightly chubby, young lady in a police outfit holding a troll carrier.  
  
“Are you Mister Egbert?” She asks, with a dead pan voice. You nod and step to the side letting her in.   
  
She steps inside and sits down on the couch, setting the carrier on the floor next to her. You hear a quiet whimper from inside and the sound of claws on plastic as you sit down next to her. She takes off her hat and shakes out her fiery red hair. She then cleans her bright red glasses on her shirt and you steal a look at her eyes. One a teal green, the other a milky white.

  
“Took a perp with a knife to the face.” she says as she puts her glasses back on. “Cut me up, too.” She says, drawing her fingers under her eye, highlighting the rather large scar underneath it.   
  
“But, that’s not why we’re here, Mr. Egbert. Terezi Pyrope. Special victims.” She says, shaking your hand with the vice grip of a monster.  
  
“Uh, John Egbert, not employed.” you say.   
  
You can tell she’s staring at you though her rose tinted sunglasses.   
  
“Now before I sign over this troll to you there are a few things you need to know about him.”   
  
She then tells you all about Eridan Ampora, and it’s all you can do not to find his old owner and strangle him. 

“Eridan’s a very special victim indeed.” She starts her whole body shuddering with a shaky breath.      
  
“You see, Eridan was sexually abused and beaten by his other owner for several years before anyone found out. Lets uh, move into the other room.” She says standing up.   
  
You follow her into the kitchen where she starts again.  
  
“Dr. Olferius Scratch was arrested several days ago on account of illegal drug trafficking. When we went to search his apartment for contraband, we found Eridan, unconscious and locked away in his bathroom.”   
  
She pauses to clean her glasses again.   
  
“He was in horrible condition when we brought him to the clinic close to here. Burn marks, open wounds, scaring, several broken bones and torn fins.”   
  
“Wait, fins?” You have to stop her at that.   
  
“Yes, fins, he’s a rare sub-breed of trolls known as sea-dwellers. He’s made for life underwater and on land.” She then goes back to her tale.   
  
“When we first met him he was extremely skittish around us, more so the males than females on the squad for obvious reasons. We need you to boost his trust in males. Have him realize that not all guys are like that.”  
You nod and walk her back into the living room next to the carrier.   
  
“Are there any special things I need to do for him?” You ask.  
  
“Yes, in fact,” She then give’s you a list of things you have to do.   
  
“And, he um,” She pulls you in closer. “He has a weak bladder so, don’t scare him.”   
  
She then leaves, leaving you with Eridan still in his carrier. 


	12. new starts

“Well,” You step over to it, lay it down slowly on it’s side and then step out of the way as you open it.   
  
At first, nothing happens. He stays firmly stuck inside his plastic cage not moving a inch. You sit down and slowly you see him start to poke his head out.   
  
Man he really is different.     
  
You watch as he slinks out a little more, just so that his hands rest on the carpet. His hair is wild and tangled and he’s all bones just like Sollux, only a little bit taller.   
  
He’s now completely out of the carrier, and is sitting on the floor right in front of you, oblivious. And now you can see just how badly he looks.   
  
There are small scars crisscrossing all over his body and there are circular burn marks on his shoulders and hips from what you can see. His tail flicks back and forth like a metronome, keeping a beat only he can hear. It’s forked into two parts, each with a fin like membrane stretching in-between. Both sizes are tattered at the top. He stands and he’s a lot taller than you thought he was. He’s about 3’7 while Sollux is only 3’5. (Karkat stands at 3‘)  you see the muscles in his leg spasm and he sits back down with a hiss.   
  
His horns are shaped like lighting bolts and he has soft looking violet membranes stretching in between the fleshy points of his ears, like fins. He sniffs the air and quickly turns to look at you fear and unease in his eyes.   
  
You don’t know what to do.   
  
You watch as he starts to breathe faster, the slits on the sides of his chest flaring open and closed rapidly and how he locks his legs together protectively. You look away from him trying to ignore him as best as you can. A few minutes pass before you hear him start to move again, towards you!   
  
You try not to get excited as he slowly slinks over to the couch. He curls up carefully at the opposite end of it and slowly falls asleep.  
  
Maybe this will be easier than you think.   
  
It’s not.  
  
You spend a few minutes watching him as he sleeps making sure nothing happens to him. When you’re sure he’s ok you decide to take a shower. (You haven’t taken one in a while and you’re starting to smell.) So, you step into the bathroom and strip down before stepping inside the shower and fiddling with the water temperature.              
  
  
After a while you’re relaxed and start to wash your hair when you hear the curtain move a bit and something hit the bottom of the tub.   
You freeze when you feel something soft and cool flick over your leg. You move from your bent over location slowly into standing up. You back up slowly and watch as Eridan scampers in front of you, shoving his head right into the spray of the water with the happiest smile you’ve ever seen.    
  
You let him enjoy the rest of your shower.   
  
“Hey, Eridan.” you say in a soft voice. He turns to look at you eyes wide.   
  
“It’s time to get out now, okay?” You say softly, moving slowly to turn off the water. He whimpers slightly as your hand moves past him to the knobs, turning the water off.  He sits in the tub watching as the water swirls down the drain.  
  
“...Cold...” He says quietly to the floor.   
  
You take a towel off the rack and drape it over his shoulders.   
  
“Aww, I just can’t.” You say and scoop him up in your arms. His eyes widen and he starts to shake violently. He claws at you trying to hold on tighter. He rolls around and buries his face in your chest, claws digging into your skin.   
  
“Ow, Eridan, that hurts.” You say calmly, setting him down slowly and unhooking his claws from your shoulders. He looks up at you, eyes big and close to running over with tears. He holds himself tightly, his claws digging into his shoulders leaving pinpricks of violet blood.   
  
You try to comfort him as he wets himself.  
  
You comfort him as you clean him up and set him down on the couch to sleep it off. You then head back into the bathroom to clean up the mess on the floor. 

Then Dave comes home.   
  
You hear the front door close and a scream followed by the sound of claws on carpet moving towards you. You straighten up and hold out your arms just as Eridan comes slamming into you, wrapping his arms around your shoulders and crying into your neck.   
  
You can tell he’s wet himself again.   
  
After Eridan’s calmed down a bit you clean him up again and lead him by the hand into the living room where Dave’s scrubbing the floor. Eridan hides behind your leg whimpering quietly.   
  
“Hey.” Dave says getting up and walking over to you. But you stop him.   
  
“Dave, this is Eridan. Eridan, this is my uh, Matesprit Dave.” You say remembering the right word. Eridan stops for a minute and looks up at the two of you.   
  
“Can see it.” He says before going back to hiding. Dave shifts and bends down to Eridan’s level.   
  
“Hey there.” Is all he says. Eridan waves slowly, looking at the floor. You hear a set of paws on the floor behind you. You turn to see Sollux walking over to you. Eridans fins move as he turns around.    
  
Sollux stops, Eridan stares.   
  
Sollux drops onto all fours and crawls slowly over to him. Eridan copies him, and drops down on to all fours as well. Sollux wiggles his ears and Eridan flaps his fins. Your yellow blood steps closer and closer until he’s only a few inches from Eridan. He then nips his nose. Eridan startles backwards not used to up font ways you guess.   
  
Eridan then bares his teeth and bites Solluxes nose back. He then jumps him, rolling over and over down the hallway right into Karkat.   
  
Karkat screeches as they roll into him and takes a nip at both of them. He then sits down in-between them keeping them apart.   
  
  
“Oh, yeah he’s going to do well here.” Dave says leaning on your shoulder.   
  
You head back into the living room and turn on the T.V.   
  
“Oh, wow I haven’t see this show since I was a kid.” Dave says sitting down on the couch.   
  
You here the sound of the theme song and you have to sit down at watch with him.   
  
“WOO WEEHOO.BUNDANAN.”   
  
“Man I missed the Doctor.” Dave says as you see Eridan slink out from around the corner. You see Eridan’s eyes light up as he sits down in front of the screen.  
  
The title screen rolls by and both you and Dave cringe in fear.   
“Aw man, not this one.” Dave says  
  
“I know! This one always scares me.” You add.   
  
You had no idea what it would do to Eridan.   
  
He was up and running even before you saw them, it was the mere word that sent him off.   
  
“Angel.”  
  
You get up to go find him as soon as it’s safe.


	13. bad words

“Eridan? Eridan?” You call out his name, trying to find him. You find him hiding under your bed.

“Eridan, it’s okay, nothing’s going to hurt you.” You kneel down and look under to see his bright grey and pale yellow eyes, and the light violet shine underneath them. “Come on Eridan, come here.” You reach and slowly pull him out from underneath the bed. You hold him close in your arms.

“I don’t like that wword.” He stutters.

“Why?” you ask

“That’s….. wwhat…. he wwould ….call me.” He says covering his face, tears starting to run down his cheeks. “And he had it.…..wwritten…..on his chest.” He sobs. You comfort him the best you can. 

“It’s okay Eridan we can watch something else if you want.” You say. He nods slowly and you take him by the hand back into the living room. Dave’s channel surfing when you comeback in. He stops on one of the movie channels, it’s airing the first Harry Potter movie. 

Eridan’s transfixed. He lets go of your hand and sits down on the floor, staring at the screen, mouth agape. 

“I think that will keep him occupied for a while.” You say sitting down on the couch. Sollux and Karkat scamper in to the living room to watch the movie with him. 

Later, after the movie’s over, Eridan asks you for some paper and a pencil. You hand him what he asks for and he walks off into the kitchen and sits down at the table. You pop in a little later and you see him scribbling away. You can’t help but look over his shoulder and see that he’s been drawing. 

“What cha’ drawing Eridan?” You ask.

He looks up at you startled. “Nofin‘.” He says, hiding his work under his webbed hands. 

“Aw, come on please, can I see it?” you say bending down to his height.

“Wwell,” Eridan slowly moves his hands away and lets you look.

He’s a great artist, much better than you or Dave.   
He’s drawn himself as Harry Potter and the rest of you as the others in the cast. Dave as Hagrid, Sollux and Karkat as Ron and Hermione, and you as Dumbledore. In one picture, he’s drawn a scene in the first movie, the one where Harry is looking into the mirror only he’s replaced Harry with himself and Harry’s parents with only one person. 

“Who’s that, in this one?” you ask. Picking it up to look at it better. 

“NO!” he shouts and pulls the picture from your hand. He holds it close to his chest, protecting it. 

You stand back, a little surprised at his outburst. “Well, okay, you don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to.” you say starting to leave. You feel his fingertips brush your arm and you stop. 

“It’s my brother, I miss him….a lot.” Eridan says as he slowly lets you see it. 

You look closely at the drawing he lets you see. You see that he’s drawn another troll who looks like him. His horns are larger and he doesn’t have the same purple stripe in his hair like Eridan’s. He stands there in a dirty white t-shirt and tattered jean shorts. He also has a cigarette in his finger tips and you notice that Eridan hasn’t drawn in one of his eyes. 

“How come he’s missing an eye?” you ask.

Eridan reaches up and takes the picture from your hand. He quickly draws something down and hands you the picture back. 

You look at what he’s added and are a little frightened. His left eye was left blank, unlike the black colored ring of the right. There are also two large scars stretching over the blank eye almost touching the tattered ear fin on the same side of his face. You also notice his tail. Half of the fin at the end is missing. 

“Eridan, did you forget to draw the other side of his fin too?” you ask.

He shakes his head no. 

“That’s howw it looks. Doc made it like that wwhen…Cro didn’t do wwhat he wwanted, one time.” Eridan tells the table.

“Is Cro his name?” you ask sitting down next to him. 

He nods. 

“Did, did uh, Doc do this to him too?” You ask pointing to the scars over Cro’s eye. 

Nods again. 

“Cut him up like that wwhen Crouns didn’t listen.” Eridan draws his finger tips over his eye, starting at his eyebrow and ending right before he touches his fin. 

“Did he ever hurt you like that?” You ask. 

Eridan shakes his head.

“He wwould tell me I wwas special, that he couldn’t cut me up as badly, because I wwas wworth more.” Eridan runs his hands through his hair. 

You bite back tears as you slowly reach out and touch Eridan’s shoulder. He doesn’t move away from you. 

“Do you know where Cronus is now?” you ask. If there’s away to help Eridan, you sure as hell will find it. 

Eridan leans into your hand as he says, his voice cracking 

“He left one day. Doc took him awway, told me that he wwas bad and had to be sold.” Eridan lets you pull him into your arms and you hug him softly, holding back your own tears as he cries in your arms. 

After Eridan settles down again, you lead him back into his bedroom ware Karkat and Sollux are.   
They sniff Eridan before tugging him sleepily over into the pile and curling up around him. 

You have to call miss Pyrope.


	14. Chapter 14

You call her and tell her everything that Eridan told you, but mostly about Cronus and how it would not only help her case but also how happy it would make him. She thanks you for the information and hangs up. You go back to bed worried.   
  
“Hey Dave.” you shake him awake a bit.  
  
“Mmmh,” he groans and rolls over. Snuggling into your back. “Whatz it, babe?”  
  
“I’m worried. About Eridan.” you say, laying down and cuddling him close.  
  
“Why’s that?” Dave lets you pull his arms around you even thought he likes it better when you hold him.   
  
“He just needs so much care and more love than we could give him.” you say, matching your breathing to Dave’s. “He’s been through so much. And he’s still so young. I mean, he has scars on his junk for the love of god!” You roll over and stare into Dave’s eyes, a comforting red light in a sea of darkness.   
  
“Shhh, it’s okay, babe.” You feel Dave’s hand cup your cheek and pull your face close. “We’ll think of something for him; don’t worry.” He holds you tightly and you fall asleep in his arms.   
  
You wake up to Karkat pulling on your hand. You snort and wipe your mouth as you sit up.   
  
“What is it Karkat?” You ask him as you put your glasses on and steal a look at the clock on the table. It’s only a little bit after three in the morning. Karkat tugs on your hand a little harder.  
  
 “It Eri-dan.”   
  
Karkat leads you, not into their bedroom, but into the bathroom where Eridan and Sollux are. They’re both curled up in the tub, Sollux holding on to Eridan, comforting him.    
   
“He got really thcared, and we didn’t know what to do.” Sollux whispers to you.  Eridan’s holding onto Sollux lightly but you can tell that it’s making him uncomfortable.   
  
You have an idea.  
  
You tell Sollux to get out of the tub and he does. Eridan curls up even tighter, his eyes are closed and his gills are flaring open and closed again. You plug up the tub and turn on the water, setting it at the right temperature. You let the tub fill up all the way before turning the water off, you then place your hand on Eridan’s head right between his horns and push him under.   
  
You see a few bubbles slip from in between his lips before he stops shaking and uncurls from  himself. You watch as his gills flare to life, turning a soft violet color, opening and closing more easily. He’s sound asleep in the water and the most relaxed looking you have ever seen.  You turn around to see that Karkat has grabbed a blanket from their bedroom and has huddled up with Sollux in the corner.   
  
“Are you going to sleep in here with him?” You ask. They both nod. “Alright, I’ll check on you in the morning.” You give Sollux and Karkat a quick kiss on the head before turning off the light.  
  
Eridan glows a soft violet.   
  
You head back to bed and you sleep till noon.         
   
When you wake up Dave’s handing you the phone. You take it and ask who’s calling. It’s Jake reminding you to bring Eridan in for a check up. You thank him and hang up.   
  
You get up and see that Dave’s taken Eridan shopping and he’s now sporting a very handsome outfit. He has on a soft violet sweater and sung looking black pants. He’s also got a light and dark blue scarf wrapped around his neck and his hair has been gelled back to show off the stripe in it.   
  
“Well look at you being all fancy.” You say as he walks by you into the living room. He smiles shyly and looks up at you. You pick him up slowly and walk into the living room with him. Sollux is on the couch reading one of the books you got for him so long ago, dressed up in a yellow long-sleeved shirt and black shorts with red and blue suspenders. You can hear Dave and Karkat in the kitchen making something. You head over to them and tell him that your taking Sollux and Eridan to see Jake. He nods. You walk back over to Sollux and take him by the hand. You then load them into the car and drive off.   
  
When you enter, Miss Peixes is sitting at her normal seat behind the check-in desk. You stroll up to her and tell her that Jake wanted to see Eridan and that you bought Sollux because he probably needs a check up to. You start to chat with her idly as you wait when Eridan says,  
“Your are vvary beautiful.”  He looks right up at Miss Peixes, not a shred of fear in his eyes. She smiles and pats Eridan on the head.   
  
“And you are vvary h-andsome!” She says, mimicking Eridan’s stutter. He puffs out his cheeks like and over inflated balloon and wiggles his fins at her. She laughs and it’s like the tinkering of a bell, well, it is until she starts snorting. Thankfully Equius rescues you from making a fool of yourself, by telling you to come back.  
  
You take Sollux and Eridan back into the same little room you took Karkat into and sit them down on the table. Equius asks the same questions he asked Karkat.   
  
“What are your names?”   
  
“Eridan.”  
“Thollux.”   
You tap him on the shoulder and re-tell him Sollux’s name quietly.   
  
“And what are your colors?” He asks kneeling down to their height. 

“Yellow.”  
  
“Vviolet.”  
  
Equius scribbles the information down and walks away.  
  
Jake opens the door a little while later and greets you with a bear hug. He checks out Sollux first.   
  
“Hmm.” He says after he checks Sollux’s eyes.   
  
“What, is something wrong?” You ask, a little nervous.   
  
“No, I just have to check something.”  
  
Jake stands up and holds up two fingers. “Alright, I want you to tell me when you can’t see them, okay?” He then starts to move his hand father away from Sollux’s face. When Jake’s hand is only half a foot away from his face Sollux starts to squint.   
  
“They’re really fuzzthy now.” He says.   
  
“Well John, it looks like Solluxs needs glasses.” Jake says, moving over to check out Eridan.

 

Eridan shifts and fidgets restlessly while Jake checks him.   
I think Eridan might need glasses at some point too.” he mumbles to you at some point in the middle of him looking at Eridan’s eyes.

“Alright, Eridan there’s just one more thing I have to do. John, do you want Sollux to say or should I have Miss Peixes take him?” 

You’re very confused.   
  
“I guess he can stay with Miss P.” You say.  “But, why does he have to leave?”   
  
Jake bustles you and Sollux out into the hallway and calls Miss Peixes over. They chat for a few seconds before she offers Sollux her hand. You nudge him to take it and he does. Jake doesn’t start talking until she turns the corner.  
  
“Because of Eridan’s history, I have to take a pelvic exam and I felt like it would be best if it was just you in there with him.” Jake explains while looking at his hands.   
  
“Um, okay.” You say, still not complexly understanding. You and Jake head back into the room to find that Eridan climbed off the table and is now on his stomach spinning around on Jake’s chair. He hops up and off of the chair as soon as you walk back in.   
  
“I got bored.” He says looking at his feet. You scoop him up and plop him back down on the table.   
  
“I’m going to need you to take off his clothes.” Jake says with his back turned to you. Eridan looks up at you eyes wide. He’s scared. You pet him gently on the back as you slip off his sweater.   
  
“Can I keep my scarf on?” He asks, using his childlike eyes on you. You look up at Jake and he nods. Eridan smiles a little and holds the soft fabric in between his hands, petting it softly as you slip off his pants. Dave had even gotten him underpants. They have little seahorses on them. You slip those off him too and are careful not to look. Jake sits down on his chair and pulls on a pair of gloves.   
  
“John, you might have to hold his legs apart for me.” he says. “And make sure to comfort him, I don’t need him becoming afraid of me.”  He adds as you slowly part Eridan’s legs.    
  
“It’s alright Eridan, Jakes not trying to hurt you. He’s trying to help you. Okay.” you tell him soothingly. Eridan nods but you can tell he’s still scared.   
  
“Alright Eridan, I need you to tell me if anything hurts okay?” Jake says before he starts.   
  
Eridan’s quiet for a while before he cries out. Jake stops immediately and sits back, moving his hands away.   
  
“Good, that’s good Eridan. Your helping me buy telling me ware it hurts okay?” He says . “I’m going to have to touch the part that hurts for a little bit longer, I know you don’t like it, but I have to so I can help you alright?” Jake then slowly moves his hands back out of your sight.   
  
“You can squeeze my hand if you need to, okay?” You tell Eridan. He nods and grabs your hand while holding onto his scarf with the other and squeezes, hard. Tears leak from the corners of his eyes, but soon Jake’s done and his pulling the gloves on his hands off. They’re stained a sticky looking violet you notice before he throws them in the trash.   
  
“John, could I see you outside.” Jake asks you as he writes something down on his tablet. You nod as you help Eridan back into his clothes. He then takes you outside and sighs.   
  
“Eridan has internal scaring and a few of them have broken open and are bleeding. Thankfully, it’s not enough for cause of a alarm, but it may cause him pain in the long run.” Jake pauses and hands you a piece of paper with something scribbled on it. 

“He might need pain medication later, so I wrote down a store that sells things like that for trolls. They might sell glasses as well, so here’s a little thing for that too.” He scribbles down another note and hands that to you as well.   
  
Eridan pushes the door next to you open, almost smacking Jake in the face as he does so. He grabs on to your pants leg and you pick him up carefully. He snuggles deep into your chest.  Jake closes the door from the other side and fixes his glasses.   
  
“Alright John, Eridan,” He ruffles Eridan’s hair and smiles. Eridan looks up at you, confused. You shake Jake’s hand and walk into the front where you find Sollux playing with Miss Peixes. You thank her for watching him and thank Jake for everything before leaving.  
  
When you get home you tell Sollux and Eridan to play with Karkat before you tell Dave about what Jake told you. Dave hugs you tightly and pets your hair.   
  
You take a long nap after that. 


	15. Chapter 15

You wake up to see Sollux walk straight into the corner of the couch. He falls on his butt and looks over at you sheepishly, blushing.

 

“You so need glasses.” You say, patting him on the head and laughing. You get up and stumble into your room and look around for a little bit before finding what you were looking for. 

 

“Sollux! Come here please!” You smile as Sollux walks up behind you. “Close your eyes okay?” you tell him before turning around. When you’re sure he can’t see you, you set a pair of your old glasses on his nose and tell him to open his eyes. When he does, you can’t believe how happy he looks.

 

“I can see!” He yells while hugging your legs tightly. You laugh brightly and pick him up. At least something went right today!

 

 

Several weeks pass before you get the call.

 

Dave hands you the phone one day. You take it sleepily and ask who you’re talking to.

 

“Mr. Egbert. I’m calling you back regarding the Ampora case.” Her voice is like ice on your spine and you shoot awake. 

 

You listen as Terezi tells you the good and bad news. “We’ve found Cronus Ampora or as he’s more probably known as Dualscar, pirate of souls.” She tells you that Cronus was sold to an illegal troll fighting ring and was it’s number one fighter as well as a few others. He and the others were rescued and the ring was shut down. All of the trolls from the ring were shipped overnight to the closest place that could handle them. Said place was the clinic near your house. “Now for the bad news, a lot of the trolls rescued were either close to being or already were feral.” 

 

“Excuse me, what does feral mean?” You ask her feeling stupider and stupider by the second. 

 

“When a troll returns to a metal state of fear, rage, and panic, making them moody, vengeful, and frankly, uncontrollable.” She tells you. 

 

“Is there any way to, like, rehabilitate them?” You ask her, your heart beating faster. The lines quiet for a while before she starts talking again. 

“Yes, they can be, but they would be on a host of different medications ranging from just a simple need for companionship to drug use.” The phone beeps and you tell her you have to take it. She hangs up on you and you take the other call. 

 

It’s Jake, he’s calling to see if you’d be willing to come in to the clinic and help with all the new trolls that had come in overnight. 

 

“We have all the staff here and it’s really, still not enough.” You tell Jake that you can come in to help. 

 

When you set the phone back down Dave’s standing over you, one bushy eyebrow just peaking over his sunglasses. 

 

“I gotta go.” You say. Dave nods and pats you on the back. ‘ _Just, be careful. Don’t get yourself hurt.’_ He says, just with his body. You’ve learned how to read him so well over the years. You smile before grabbing your coat and head out.

 

When you get to the clinic the first thing you see is Equius fighting the largest troll you’ve ever seen! This troll almost breaks the 4 foot mark and was just as strong as the man he was tangoing with. His eyes were like purple slits in a sea of orange and his face was scared. He had long black messy hair and fur, and his horrifyingly sharp horns curved and curled high above his head. Equius pined the raging troll under his weight. The troll snarled and screamed raking his claws up and down Equius body, blood running down his arms and dripping from his back.

 

“ **EGBERT**.” He yells at you. “COME OVER HERE.” You jog over to Equius and he tells you to reach into the pocket on his scrubs and take out the bottle in it. You reach into his pocket and pull out what looks to be a pill bottle. He tells you to shake out two pills and get them into the troll’s mouth. You take out two of the bright green capsules and mange to shove them into the snarling trolls maw with out getting bit. Equius snaps his jaws shut and strokes the trolls throat soothingly. He swallows loudly and you watch as his eyes slowly dilate back to a soft purple and a lighter shade of orange. 

 

His claws slowly retract and he stops fighting. Equius sighs and slowly gets up before picking the troll up in his arms. 

 

“I hate having to medicate them, but sometimes, it can’t be helped.” He whispers. 

 

“Jake said you needed help.” You say stuffing your hands back in your pockets. 

 

The troll on Equius shoulder looks up at you lazily and chuckles. It’s a deep rumbling sound, a sound only something much older than that troll should make. He reaches out and pats your head with his huge hands. 

 

“MoThEr…FuCk” he says, his voice is like sand on gravel, deep and scratchy. 

 

“Come on, you big lump.” Equius says, detaching his hand from your head as he walks you back past the double swinging doors.

 

“Oi! Equiuss, are you done purlaying now?” You hear as a young looking girl walks up to you. 

 

She has huge, bright green eyes and short cut strawberry-blond hair. Her bangs are pulled back by a headband with cat ears on them. Her scrubs also fallow the feline pattern. 

“Nepeta, please.” He says. 

 

You can here the tiredness in his voice, but his body language tells another story as a playful smile flicks over his lips. 

 

You scuff your feet along the floor.

 

“John, this is my sister, Nepeta.” Equius says as he places the troll that was on his back into an empty cage. 

 

The troll chuckles again before squishing his face in to the bars of the cage and whispering “YoUr AlL GoNa MoThErFuCkInG dIe.” With the most deadpan face you have ever seen, and honestly, it scares you. 

 

“Wait, SISTER?” You ask “You two look nothing alike!” You can’t stop yourself from saying. 

 

“Well you know, Equius took more after dad and I’m adopted.” She says staring you dead in the soul with her eyes.

 

“Uh,” You scuff your feet on the floor again and you notice a dark purple liquid running over it. 

 

Deep, insane laughter explodes from the mouth of the troll who currently, is pissing onto the floor. 

 

“AhHaHaHa! SuCk My BlUgE!” He laughs out. 

Nepeta squirts him with a spray bottle filled with water. 

 

He stops immediately and looks at her grumpily. 

 

“BiTcHiEs No FuN.” he says before walking into the back corner of the cage while scratching his ass. 

 

You notice he has hooves instead of paws and his tail is like Eridan’s.

 

“He was one of the top fighters.” Equius says checking the chart clipped to the side of his cage. “But, he was close to retiring due, to, arthritis and insanity.” He reads off. 

 

“Awww, he’ss jusst a grumpy old man.” Nepeta says, hissing her S’s. 

 

“How old is he?” You ask looking at him through the bars. 

 

“It says on his chart that he’s about, two hundred and fifty six.” Equius says flipping though the papers. 

 

“Aw, he’ss sstill jusst a moody teenager!” Nepeta says bending over and sticking her one of her fingers though the bars and wiggling it. 

 

“A teenager?” You gasp. “How old do trolls even get?” 

 

“Well, the higher you go on their blood charts, the longer they live.” Equius explains.

 

“Rust bloods live just a little bit longer than humans and fuchsia blood’s, the highest on the charts live to be over a thousand.” He says scribbling something down on the trolls chart before putting it back.

 

You stand there, mouth agape. 

 

“I know! Aren’t trolls funny?” Nepeta says smiling brightly. 

 

“Well, John why don’t we find Dr. English and tell him you’re here.” Equius says picking you up and walking off with you. 

 

“Oh, and Nepeta, do feed him.” He adds nodding towards the purple blood who is now trying to do a handstand. 

 


	16. Chapter 16

Equius carries you around for a while looking for Jake. You find him inside one of the other cages working with another rescued troll. 

 

The troll that Jake was working with was different than the other one you met. Much different.

 

The troll was clinging to Jake tightly, blue tinted tears rolling down its face. 

 

“I know, I know it hurts, I’m almost done.” You hear Jake tell the troll. He’s scraping some kind of tool along the bottom of it’s hooves, removing what looks to be like years of muck off. The troll he has is scarred even worse than the other one you saw. The fur covering his legs is a dark blue, unlike the normal black or dark brown you’ve seen. It also has two arrow shaped horns curving up out of it’s wild and tangled long black hair. 

 

Equius sets you down inside the cage resting your feet in the straw like bedding. 

“This ones different than the other.” You say.

 

“Yes, he is.” Equius says. “He was one of the more heart breaking cases. You see, if you weren’t a fighter you were either a blood starter or a breeder.” He says balling his hands into tight fist. “It makes me sick.” 

 

He slams his fist into the side of the cage, deeply denting the stone. 

 

“He was a blood starter Meaning he was used to start the fights.” Jake said standing up and holding the little troll in his arms. 

 

“A lot of the scars you see on him are from humans. Feral trolls react to blood in a strong way.” He says, holding the now sleeping blue blood close. 

 

“Excuse me.” Equius says before leaving. You look at the dent he left in the wall and cringe at it’s size. 

 

“Now, John come with me.” Jake tells you as he walks you out. 

 

He stops a few cages down and opens the door. Sitting inside is another troll. This one was laying down in a pile of straw with a blanket being the only thing keeping him from touching it. He has the same huge horns that Tavros has and the same soft, calming eyes. Jake sets the blue blood down next to the other troll. You see something shimmer on the back of the newer troll and you watch surprised as a pair of tattered light brown wings lift up off his back as he reaches out and pulls the blue blood close. 

 

“I’m glad that at least they can hold onto each other.” Jake says, closing the cage door. You watch as the

blue blood timidly snuggles his head into the other trolls side and leans up to kiss his cheek before Jake pulls you away. 

 

“Here, John, I think this is who you really want to see.” Jake says unlocking another cage door. 

 

And you see him. 

 

Cronus Ampora.

 

He looks just like the drawing Eridan let you see. He turns and looks at you, his scared over eye a milky white. 

 

“You got a smoke, kid?” 

 

You pat your pockets and shake your head. He rolls his eyes at you and stands up. You hear his joints crack. Jake reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. He pulls one out and hands it to Cronus. He takes the cig in his hand and slides it in between his lips. He then rakes his claws over the stone and lights it with the sparks. 

 

“Thanks for the fag, fag.” He mumbles out at Jake before sitting back down in the corner. You watch fascinated as he takes a drag and expels the smoke out of the gills on the sides of his neck and chest. 

 

“Cronus?” You question. He laughs and turns back to look at you. 

 

“No one’s called me by my real name in a vwery long time.” He has a strange accent you can’t place. 

 

“Well, I had someone tell me it. Someone I think you miss.” You say stepping a little closer to him.

 

“I ain’t got no one to miss.” He breathes out. “Not wvith the life I’vwe had.” He sighs. 

 

“I think you do. Because I knoww he misses you.” You say, accidentally stuttering your W. 

 

Cronus bolts up strait and starts choking on the smoke in his gills. You rush over to him and pat him on the back gently. When he stops coughing he grabs onto your shirt and inhales deeply, sniffing all the different scents on you. You watch as his eyes widen and he falls back, soft violet tears starting to stream down his face. 

 

“He’s alivwe.” He smiles, showing off his shark like teeth. 

 

“And he’s safe,” You say still patting him on the back. 

 

“I wvant to see him.” Cronus says standing back up again “I need to see him.” He says. You look over at Jake, asking him with your eyes. 

 

“I’m afraid that Cronus can’t leave yet. I still have to run some tests before I do anything. But, you can bring Eridan down here to see him.” Jake says. Cronus’ eyes light up and he smiles widely. 

 

“You should call your Matesprit and tell him to bring him down here.” Cronus says pulling on your shirt. 

 

“How did you know?” you whisper. 

 

“You smell like pailing.” He whispers back. “I’vwe smelled a lot of that in my time.” He nudges you winking. You blush flustered and he laughs. You leave to go call Dave to bring Eridan down to see someone. 

 

“What should I do with Karkat and Sollux?” He asks you. You ponder it, and tell him to bring them down too. 

 

You hang up and smile to yourself. You found him. You kept your promise and found Cronus for him. 

 

“John! There’s someone else you should see!” Jake says walking up to you with a blanket covered bundle in his arms. 

You see a long slender tail with a lion like fur puff at the end slide out of the blanket and wave slightly. Jake pulls the blanket back a bit and you see a small pair of knobby horns poke out of a dark fluff of hair. 

Your shocked, stone rooted to the floor as he pulls back the blanket so that you can see it’s face. The little trolls sleeping soundly, only twitching every once and awhile. 

 

“John, I was wondering if.” Jake stops. “I’m only asking because I know you’d take good care of him.” 

 

“He’s got the same blood color.” He looks down at the sleeping bundle in his arms with a sad smile. 

 

“Just, hold him okay.” Jake then hands him to you. 

 

You take him in your arms and smile. That same warm fluttery feeling creeps into your heart the same way it did the first time you held Karkat. He yawns and you can see all his little teeth. He smacks his mouth a little before looking up at you with his childlike eyes. 

 

“purrt?” he makes the cutest little noise and reaches up to touch your face. 

 

“I don’t know if he can talk.” Jake says. “sometimes they don’t teach them.” the little troll in your arms looks over at Jake, he points at him and says something in a language you’ve never herd.

 

“what?” you say looking at Jake. 

 

“It’s an old language, something only trolls really speak.” Jake says, gently patting the troll in your arms on the head. 

 

“I don’t know enough to tell you what he said.” 

 

You here the deep scratching voice of the purple blood say something in the same language and it scares the red blood in your arms. He buries his face in your chest when you here the front door open and the sound of Dave and three little trolls.

 

You slowly hand the red blood in your arms back to Jake and head out to meet Dave. You wrap your arms tightly around his neck and kiss him lightly on the cheek before pulling Karkat, Sollux, and Eridan close into a big group hug.

 

“Hey thanks Dave.” You start. “You didn’t tell him. Did you?” You whisper to him. Dave shakes his head and holds a finger to his lips.

 

“Not a word.” he says. You smile and pick Eridan up and steady him on your hip. “Hey, Eridan there’s someone here I think you’ll like.” you tell him as Jake walks out of the double swinging doors.

 

“John, if you fallow me I think we can brighten someone’s day.” Jake motions for you to fallow. 


	17. Chapter 17

You leave Dave with Karkat and Sollux and fallow Jake back into the same exam room he always takes you to. You sit Eridan down on the table and Jake leaves to go get Eridan’s “Someone.” 

 

“Eridan.” Jake opens the door and you watch as Eridan’s eyes widen and the look of joy on his face. 

 

“C-cro?” he chokes on his own voice. Cronus smiles and nods and Eridan’s off and running tripping over his own feet to get to him.

 

“CRO!” Eridan’s crying now as he hugs and holds the other sea troll tightly, his little knuckles turning purple as he tightens his grip on him. 

 

Cronus laughs and hugs Eridan just as tightly. You can see violet tears gliding down the older Ampora’s face. They stay like that for a wile just holding each other.

 

Jake’s about to tell you something when a loud explosion erupts from the hallway along with the sound of shrieking. 

 

You and Jake rip out of the room and down the hallway faster than you ever thought you could move. You notice that all of the lights had exploded. The air was filled with smoke and smelled of ozone. You see a look off relief pass over Jakes face as you see that all of the cages are still locked tightly. Well, all but one. 

 

One cage door had been blown open and was now hanging on by a thread. 

 

“DAVE?” 

Waving smoke away and coughing slightly he appears holding on to three little bundles, two of witch are sparking red and blue. 

 

“Dave? What happened?” you ask as you reach him. 

 

“I don’t know!” he says panic edging into his voice. 

 

“I set Sollux down for a second so that I could get a better hold on Karkat and I guess he wandered off! Then there was this explosion and I found him and another troll passed out by the front of the cage!” 

 

you can tell Dave’s trying his hardest not to panic. 

 

You quickly throw your arms around him and hug him tightly, trying to help as best you can. You don’t normally see Dave brake down, but it’s never pretty when he dose. You hold him and the three trolls in his arms, making sure to calm them all down. 

 

Once Dave’s no longer at his braking point, you look down at Sollux, Karkat and the other troll in his arms. 

 

“Who are you little one?” you ask in a soft calming voice. He looks up at you with the same bifurcated eyes you see everyday, one blue one red only, there much darker than Sols. Soft arks of energy buzz around his horns witch are longer but look exactly like Solluxes.

 

“heth my younger bother.” the other troll lisps. 

 

You and Dave do a double take at the both of them. Sollux holds on tightly to the other troll. There both shaking. 

 

The other troll looks way older than Sollux and his hairs much longer, almost covering his eyes. He flicks his ear a little and you catch a glimpse of the same ear tag Tavros had only, his is yellow not brown. His claws are broken and ragged like, he bites them. He raps his tail around himself and Sollux and you notice that he even has the same white/black tail pattern.

 

Jake had run off in front of you to check on the other trolls but now, you can just make him out walking back over. 

 

“Oh my, it seams we had a rather large energy surge!” he’s laughing brightly and dusting of his lab coat. The other troll in Dave’s arms warbles and holds Sollux even closer. Dave carefully sets the to yellow-bloods down on the floor so that he could hold and comfort Karkat better.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short, sorry. also I won't be able to update for awhile because the computer that I have this story saved on is being wonky and gross. -sorry again:c

The other troll chirps and squeezes Sollux tighter and looks up at you. You sit down on the floor and sigh.

 

“Dave, I think, were finally going to have to move to a bigger house.” You say, tears rolling down your cheeks and a smile on your lips.

 

Several months go by after that day. Dave gets in contact with his older brother who was traveling the world or some shit like that to talk to him about funding for buying a bigger house. After he agreed to that, you spent you time looking up a new home that would be able to house all of your still growing family.

 

After finding the right house you call up your sister Jade to help you move from inner city new york to outer city.

 

The house itself was tucked just on the bordering woodlands trees framing it on the back and sides. When you and Jade first went to look at it in her beat up old truck, the paint had been peeling in more place's than one and some of the rooms looked unsafe but, wile you saw every horror movie you had ever see happening in this place, Jade saw it as a challenge and you kinda left her to it.

 

When Jade called several weeks latter telling you that the house was done, it was a relief off your mind.

 

You had quickly moved your now overgrown family into your new house. All of the trolls you and Dave had adopted had quickly moved to explore the new surroundings. You made sure to keep them from wondering to far away from the house into the woods.

 

“Eridan! Get back here!” you say as you chase the sea-dweller around in the backyard. You corner, and made a jump for him. Eridan squeals as you grab him.

 

“No fair! Your legs are longer than mine!” he giggles out pressing his paws into your face. You smile at him though grey fingers. Wile the rest of your trolls had grown crazy big over the last few months, Eridan and Cronus hadn’t grown more than a few inches, you chalked that up to a sea-dweller thing.

 

One night, after you had put all the little ones to bed, A horrible thunder storm rolled in and it shook the house to its roots.

 

You snuggle up close to Dave on the couch to watch a late night movie.

 

“Its nice out here. Isn't it Dave?” you say as you hand him a cup of hot chocolate. Dave nodded and smiled at you just as the door bell rang. 

You looked over at Dave one eyebrow raised. 

 

“who could that be?” You ask as Dave gets up. 

 

He just looks at you, as he walks over to the door. He carefully opens it to the storm outside. At first, you saw nothing, but in a flash of lighting you saw him. 

 

Gamzee. 


	19. Chapter 19

“IM GONA KILL HER.” he said as he stepped into your house rain water dripping from his hair and jacket. He was shaking as he looked up. His eyes were cold and hard, his mouth set in a snarl. Three long bloody gashes dripped from his face.

 

“the bitch took him, I'm gonna find her, im gonna....” his words became slurred and mumbled as Dave lead him over to the couch and sat him down.

 

You got up and went into the kitchen to fix him a cup of tea. 

 

You come back and place the cup in front of him on the table. Dave had gotten up wile you were In the kitchen and had fetched the first aid kit you keep around just in case. He had quick stitched the worse looking parts of his face back together. Gamzee looked over at the cup and then at you he nodded in thanks and took the warm mug in his hands. 

 

“okay, Gamzee dude, can you tell me what the fuck happened?” Dave asked.

 

Gamzee was quite or a wile, before looking up at Dave. 

 

“s-she, found me, she came to the house, had her guards cut me up, and....and....s-he took him.” He brakes down into tears at this point almost shattering the cup in his hands. Dave let Gamzee lean on his shoulders wile he cried. 

 

You and Dave decide to let him stay the night on the couch and try to talk to him better in the morning. 

 

The net morning, before the kids as you had come to call them woke up, Dave took Gamzee to the nearest hospital to get better attention on his wounds and to file a police report on what happened last night. 

 

You were cleaning the dishes from this mornings breakfast when you felt a pair of horns knock into your hip. Looking down, you saw a large fluff of black hair and four horns looking up at you. You sigh and set down the dish you had been cleaning and kneel down. 

 

“What's up Mituna?” you ask him. Mituna was the young yellow blood that you had adopted from Jake. 

 

“......Cronus....Eridan, are....gone.” He says pointing at the back door. 

“What?!” you pick him up and pull back his bangs to look at him in the eye. 

 

“are you sure?” you feared. 

 

He nods as you set him back down on the floor. He takes your hand and walks you over to the door ware he points out into the woods. 

 

“thath...were they are.” He lisps.

 

“oh god.” you hang your head in your free hand. 

 

“okay, okay.” you say to yourself as you let Mituna walk off to go hang out with Sollux. Quickly grabbing the phone up, you call Jade and ask her to come over.

 

She's over in two minuets flat.

 

You tell her whats up as you pull on your shoes. 

 

“...So can you watch everyone wile I go out hunting for them? Also when Dave gets home, with or with out Gamzee, if I'm not back tell him that your going in after me okay?” 

 

you stand and hug your sister before running out the back door into the wild. 


End file.
